Hours and Contact

We are at 757 Columbia Street in Hudson, NY, at the corner of 8th Street.

Parking is all on-street. There are municipal lots at Columbia Street & 6th Street, and on Union Street between 6th and 7th Streets. Hudson is a great town for walking, biking, and scootering, which we heartily recommend so you can see all the awesome stores and sights of our pretty town.

Every Tuesday evening, we screen a movie here at House Rules Cafe. Every month is a different theme.

April is Studio Ghibli. We kick it off with a well-loved favorite of families all over the world: My Neighbor Totoro. The portrayal of two sisters interacting with various spirits is a sweet, imaginative, and emotional introduction to the world of Japanese Anime. We will be showing an English dubbed version.

Every Friday evening, join us for an hour, or for many hours! We invite one and all to come on your own, with a group, or with a new friend, for the sole purpose of playing games (and maybe drinking a sake or two). Our normal, $5/person fee will apply, but it will also get you a soda, coffee, or tea.

We have demos planned, sometimes fun, fast, and easy, sometimes classics like Catan or Carcassonne, and sometimes the heavier games like Terraforming Mars, Energy Empire, or Stone Age.

If you’re new to gaming, or want to bring your own game to demo, this is your time!

For those who aren’t crafty, but want to get their game on, let’s do it!

Every other Monday, while the crafters make things, we’ll also have a game of Sentinels of the Multiverse going. Up to four people at each table, playing as heroes working together to battle the Multiverse’s worst villains in some of the strangest locations! Every session, a different group will work together – will you join us?

Every other Monday, join a group at House Rules Cafe for a session of crafting and discussion on our favorite topics! Be it nerdery, books, movies, local events, national events, or personal events, anything is up for grabs.

All crafting is welcome and encouraged! We’ll put down dropcloths for any potentially messy activity.

April continues with Howl’s Moving Castle, another Hayao Miyazaki classic. It was written from his point of view as a pacifist, and contains some themes that may be disturbing to viewers – but it is still relatively kid-friendly, and many of the core themes are carefully presented.

Studio Ghibli is a dominant cinematic force in Japan. Although many of its films have been written and directed by Miyazaki, every production is as a result of the studio’s amazing team of animators, character designers, sound engineers, and editors.

Every Friday evening, join us for an hour, or for many hours! We invite one and all to come on your own, with a group, or with a new friend, for the sole purpose of playing games (and maybe drinking a sake or two). Our normal, $5/person fee will apply, but it will also get you a soda, coffee, or tea.

We have demos planned, sometimes fun, fast, and easy, sometimes classics like Catan or Carcassonne, and sometimes the heavier games like Terraforming Mars, Energy Empire, or Stone Age.

If you’re new to gaming, or want to bring your own game to demo, this is your time!

Spirited Away is one of the best unknown famous films produced by Studio Ghibli. Dubbed and released in the US by Walt Disney Pictures, it received very little marketing in the English-speaking world, but has become one of the great examples of feminist film-making and hero creation.

We recommend this for all kids, but especially for those who identify as girls or non-binary. Miyazaki created the protagonist, Chihiro, to be a hero for girls. In Miyazaki’s own words: “This movie is a story about a 10-year-old whose father and mother happened to eat something they shouldn’t have, and so became pigs. The movie appears to be satire, but that isn’t my purpose. I have five young female friends who are about the same age as Hiiragi-san*, and I spend every summer with them at my mountain cabin. I wanted to make a movie they could enjoy. That is why I started this film, and that is my true purpose.”

Every Friday evening, join us for an hour, or for many hours! We invite one and all to come on your own, with a group, or with a new friend, for the sole purpose of playing games (and maybe drinking a sake or two). Our normal, $5/person fee will apply, but it will also get you a soda, coffee, or tea.

We have demos planned, sometimes fun, fast, and easy, sometimes classics like Catan or Carcassonne, and sometimes the heavier games like Terraforming Mars, Energy Empire, or Stone Age.

If you’re new to gaming, or want to bring your own game to demo, this is your time!

For those who aren’t crafty, but want to get their game on, let’s do it!

Every other Monday, while the crafters make things, we’ll also have a game of Sentinels of the Multiverse going. Up to four people at each table, playing as heroes working together to battle the Multiverse’s worst villains in some of the strangest locations! Every session, a different group will work together – will you join us?

Every other Monday, join a group at House Rules Cafe for a session of crafting and discussion on our favorite topics! Be it nerdery, books, movies, local events, national events, or personal events, anything is up for grabs.

All crafting is welcome and encouraged! We’ll put down dropcloths for any potentially messy activity.

Every Friday evening, join us for an hour, or for many hours! We invite one and all to come on your own, with a group, or with a new friend, for the sole purpose of playing games (and maybe drinking a sake or two). Our normal, $5/person fee will apply, but it will also get you a soda, coffee, or tea.

We have demos planned, sometimes fun, fast, and easy, sometimes classics like Catan or Carcassonne, and sometimes the heavier games like Terraforming Mars, Energy Empire, or Stone Age.

If you’re new to gaming, or want to bring your own game to demo, this is your time!

The month of May will be chock-full of anniversary events, one-year celebrations, and some schedule changes as we get ready for the onslaught of summer. To kick it off, join us for International Tabletop Day on 4/28. What is ITTD? Keep reading:

Once a year, the world participates in a festival of analog gaming. From board games, to card games, to drinking games and roleplaying games, from party games to 3-hour strategy sessions, if it doesn’t require batteries or a screen, we’re showing it off.

There’s a full schedule of events, including demos of the fun, fast, easy category, designers showing off and playtesting their creations, at least one pen-and-paper RPG, and a series of game sessions run throughout the day by the House Rules Husband: He Who Cannot Discard. Most demos will be all-ages friendly, and a few will be specifically aimed at the under-sevens.

Keep an eye on this space for the full schedule as we pin everything down, and get ready to explore Atlantis, hide out in Arkham, tell some Gloom-y stories, and build an empire of wizardry!

We’ve partnered with Extra Life again this year to raise money for the Bernard & Millie Duker Children’s Hospital in Albany. All gaming fees will be donated, and we will have scheduled raffles throughout the day – games, gift certificates, and some special prizes from the Cafe itself! (All ITTD participants will be charged our gaming fee. No discounts, exceptions, or waivers will be granted.)